Bathroom talk

Well I thought I'd put this out there just so people know, because I find it quite amusing. The only thing I knew going into this experience about Japanese toilets were that many places now had both western toilets and squat toilets:

You simply squat and use...



















But there is far more excitement that comes along with Japanese western toilets, especially for the ladies. While some toilets look like traditional western ones, there are many additional features. Things like seat heating, a bidet (temperature and pressure can be adjusted), different sized flush options, blow dryer, massage options, water jets, automatic lid opening/closing, automatic flushing, automatic air deodorizing, wireless control panel, a glow in the dark setting, room AC/heating and more!

To me, one of the most interesting things is that women are very embarassed at the thought of being heard by someone else while using the bathroom. As a result, if using a low-tech toilet, they will continuously flush until they are finished, which, as I'm sure you can imagine wastes a lot of water! So now there are a few solutions - some toilets play music! Some others make the continuous sound of flushing water without actually flushing. This feature is really only found in ladies' rooms though, as men don't seem to care.
















There is also a need for bathroom slippers here, as the toilet room is considered and unclean space. Since the Japanese are very particular about keeping the unclean and clean spaces separate, there are different slippers just for the bathroom.